Method of attaching mats



Aug. 25, 1953 A. l.. GUsTlN, .JR

METHOD OF' ATTACHING MATS Filed Jan. 2l, 1950 Patented Aug. 2n5, 19532,649,627 'i METHOD; 0F ATTACHING' Mars Alberti. L.; ;Gustin, t Jr.,JchnsonzCounty, '-LKans., .zassignorr to;Gnustix-BaccnfManufacturingComfffpanyif a-corporation offMiSsouriApplication' January 21, 195p0SeljialNoi '139,950

8 :Glaims.

il ff-Thisfinvention relates/tothe applicationof re- 4'-silient'compressiblemats tomwallsvorothersur- .'rfaces; and 'refersmoreparticularly" vto` afmethod "fof r-appllyingE 4resilient:compressible mat which -fai'ill`l insure" better-1 finsulati-veproperties adjacent it'ainedf by having Ethewmate'rialfof considerablerthzck-ness1 'at all1-points-fwhere optimal-"insulation isis' desired.lorweverftheiinherent nature 'of the frmate'rial;y in .itsvrresilience'l=and-usua11ysponge- -frlikevstafte; :causesiitf fto"l iwcompressedbeneath whatever fastening means areused/to-attachitfO 'securely-:to1 asurface. This compression of the @material .adjacentf"the Ifastening"means,= usually fib'attens for 'f` fasteners -with appreciable con-:fined-iama atl that hp'oint land. -hence a 4'substantial fimpairment'of the` -insul'ative properties.

It-can beaseenfthlatfthere is a needfor amore ',:uniform'l rinsulation11 surface, y and it' desirable 'ih'tl-fe1='efore` thatay f'm'ethcd bffapply-ingt tresi-lient :moz-npressible:mat:be1 providedinfwhichlthisfobvious disadvantageof the loss of-iinsnlation-'atfthe@fasteningfmeansfbef overcome.

ff'Eorthis-reasonit isI yan--olojectfofmy invenrtionftoeprovideawmethodv fof application of -re- "isilient-compressible mat inlfwhicha` maximum of 1'finsulativeffeffect may belfobtained- -adj acent theMmeansifwhich are--used to-secure the mat ftov a surface. -feature finconnection Ptherewith -is .-'theflslittingY "of ifthe surface of thecompressed mat adjacent lthe-edges of i the fastening means.litofallowfithe :mat toi-V decompress and prov-ide a wnormalthicknessiat thatA point.

"-"It is=-often desirable that m'at ofthey nature de- -f layers,`'inwhich 'caselthe successive= Amats vare ap- 'pIiedWithsimilarlfasteningi means. =`HoWever,- it is' frequently-found that, due -to thenature-'of ffthe-:slirfac'e'l toY which v'the mat isapplied, it `iswmeinberxfilhis isf'especially 1trueliin the case- .-wherethefmatf-isapplied to ai Waltofsteel` 01' ('Qlio-V-fi) 1 2 flotherfmetal, askin'the example of. arailW-ay car, `7whereinK members ofwood or .softercomposition *have'beenfprexedfto :the'vmetal vsurface at in- :rtervals'to= provide Aaereceptive surface:I forirthe r `n`fasteningmeans.cthemat. In such cases'V as rHthose-described the alignment 'of compressedmat Lsurfaces.. adiacenti l1the`--loattens or :,otherameansvagain--vdefeats` the .purpose of :mat thick-ness' for insulationI andresults in. an impairedinsulation wf surface iat those 1points.

IIt--is a"iurther`object ofmy` inventiom'thereforegto provide. a methodof applying? a vplu-ral- 'ity-w'of successi-vewlayers of resilientcompressible mat to a isurface'vinwwhich af minimum lossfrof 1 i)winsulative effect :is-attained adjacentthe attach- I `vmentsurfaceswof", the successive.layers 'v A-' featuref inY'connectioir-therewith is the slitting .fof "the lcompressedmatfsuriaces adjacent.eachfiasten- PV-`ingr means to allow decompression*of'fthe-mat :at

that point to its normal thickness.

`"fCther and" further fobj ectsV will appear. --in the cc1-ns'e-=oiitheollowingdescription. Inthe accompanyi-ngf'drawings-Iwhichv form a partI vof the jf instant specificationv andare. to be.read .l in ccnjunctiontherewith; and in: whichilike .reference =-fnumerals are useditoz-indicatef'like partsfin'r'the r various Aviews,

Eig.l 1z` is anvertical section through a surface f n`tofwhiclra'-resi1ient' compressible mat --has lbeen aoappliedaccordingf-tothe-method ofthis invenrtion, and

'-1 Fig. 2-is afragmentary-vertical section through f 'the'wallsf'ofa-railway-- car tc- Which successive layers of resilientcom-pressiblemat-have been Myinvention-may readilybe appreciated fromff-Figi 1- which-shows `an insulatingfmat 3 -fastened "to aWallor-fsimilar-su'rface I-by laterally spaced 40;para'llelbatten-strips 5,-'each-strip beingsecured i *to*the-"Walle-by-bolts- 6-spacedalong its length 'which-serve -toidrawftheastrip toward;the Wall 4corrrpiessirlg andclamping'the'mat as shown at i 1.`Thefmatis-of resilient material; forrexam- 45f-ple;"vegetable Yand/ormineral` bers bonded Vby a'resin atstheir` junctions to integrate theminto amunitary Asprinlgyvmat-structure having a labyrinth "o' openinterstices.

*In'fclam'ping amat l'of vthis character 'G0/.the

50 wall atrintervalswith battensyit will be noted that the lmat iscompressedvnot only inthe re- "gion fdirectly under each, hatten butalso to a lesser; 'degree-- in'the `regions immediately .adjafce'ntVth've sides 'ofiv the batteri. The insulative 55"valueof*the-'mat:inthe compressed region 1 obviously is less than at the points where it isunrestrained and of full thickness, but this loss and its insulatingproperties is somewhat offset by the insulating effect offered by thebatten 5 superimposed over this region. However, the compressed regionsimmediately adjacent the batten form an open air space or notch 8, sohere there is aloss of insulating effectv without any corresponding gainwhatever through the agency of an auxiliary covering.

The salient novelty of my invention resides in recovery of the loss ofinsulating effect represented by the open notch 8 along the margins ofthe securing member. This I accomplish sim` ply by placing the blade ofa knife 9 or other sharp cutting instrument fiat against first onemarginal edge 5a of the batten and then against the other, and in eachcase drawing therknife along the batten to out a slit in the mat oneither side of the compressed region 1. By so doing it will be seen thatI sever the fibers extending from the compressed region I across theplane of edge 5a so that the severed portions lying out from under thebatten are permitted to spring back up to their unrestrained position.The slit naturally must not extend all the way through the mat but mustbe deep enough to permit decompression of the mat beside the battensubstantially to full, unrestrained thickness. In this fashion thenotches 8 are eliminated and full insulating value of the mat isobtained close to the battens as well as farther away. The finishedassembly also has a much neater appearance than before. The lower batten5 in Fig. 1 shows the appearance of the mat after being treated inaccordance with my method; the lower edge of the upper edge of thebatten shows the treatment in process, while the upper edge illustratesthe conformation of the mat prior to slitting.

Fig. 2 illustrates the application of the foregoing method to theinsulation of a railroad car wherein two thicknesses or layers of matare employed. The rst layer I I is positioned against the inner wallsI2, and against this layer of mat are placed battens I3, beneath whichthe mat is compressed, the battens and compressed mat being secured tothe car-wall side members I 4. A cutting instrument is then insertedwith its blade surface flush with the batten edges, and the compressedmat adjacent the battens is slit to a depth which will allow the mat tovdecompress at the batten edges to its normal thickness as describedhereinbefore. y

The second layer of mat l5 lis now placed over the first layer, andother battens I6 are positioned over the battens I3 of the precedinglayer. The mat is compressed beneath the batten and the batten and matare similarly secured to the members I3 beneath the batten and thebatten and mat are similarly secured to the members I3 beneath the mat.Now the compressed mat adjacent the batten edges is slit, as before, toa1- low the decompression of the mat along the length of the batten.Repeating this operation with each succeeding layer of mat appliedprovides a minimum of compressed mat surfaces at the edges Where themats are fastened, thereby presenting a more normal insulating structureadjacent the fastening means and hence a resultant better insulation atthat point. O-Ver the last layer of mat it is contemplated that a panelof woodYI'I may be placed to offer a more durable inner wall surface forthe car. The same method of application may be used for the mat 4 whichis applied under the floor surface I8 of the car.

It should be understood that the foregoing illustration of theapplication of thermal or acoustical insulation mat to railway cars ismerely exemplary and should in no way be construed as limiting theinvention, as it will be seen that it may apply toallforms `of resilientcompressible mat in their application to any surfaces for insulative orother purposes.

From the foregoing it will be seen that my invention is well adapted toattain the ends and objects hereinbefore set forth together with otheradvantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the invention.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are ofutility and may be employed without reference to other features andsubcombinations. 'I'his is contemplated by and is within the scope ofthe claims.

Inasmuch as many possible embodiments may lbe made of the inventionwithout departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood thatallmatter herein set forth or shown in the drawings is to be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense. i

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The method of supporting a resilient, compressible mat whichcomprises clamping and compressing the mat at spaced intervals betweenfixed fastening members positioned against opposite faces of the mat,and slitting the compressed mat partially therethrough along the marginof one of the fastening members adjacent one of said intervals to permitthe mat adjacent said one member to decompress to substantially itsnormal unrestrained thickness, the uncut section of said mat serving toanchor the unconined area to the area clamped between the fasteningmembers.

2. The method of supporting a resilient,com pressible mat whichcomprises clamping and compressing the mat at spaced intervals betweenfixed fastening members positioned againstopposite faces of the mat, andincising the mat to a fraction ofk its thickness along the margin of oneof the fastening members adjacent one of said intervals thereby topermit the portion of the mat adjacent said one member to decompress,the uncut fraction of'said mat serving to anchor the unconned area ofthe mat vto the area clamped between the'fastening members.

3. The method of supporting a resiliently compressible bonded, fibrousmat which comprises clamping and compressing the mat at spaced intervalsbetween fixed fastening members positioned against opposite faces of themat, and severing a substantial portion of the fibers in the mat withoutcompletelysevering the mat Where they cross the plane of an edge of oneclamping member adjacent one of said. intervals which `is transverse tothe clamping face of that member, the uncut portion of said fibersserving to anchor the unconned area of the mat to the area clampedbetween the fastening members.

4. A method ofv applying aresilientcompressible mat to a supportingsurface comprising the steps of positioning one face of the mat againstthe surface, placing clamping members of limited frontal area at spacedintervals against the opposite face of the mat, advancing the clampingmembers toward said surface and securing them to the surface to vholdand compress the mat, and incising the compressed mat partiallytherethrough V adjacent the edgesv of the clamping members to a depthwhich will allow the mat to decompress substantially to its normalunrestrained thickness, the uncut section of said mat serving to anchorthe unconned area of the rnat to the area clamped between the fasteningmembers.

5. A method of applying a resilient compressible mat to a supportingsurface comprising the steps of positioning,r one face of the matagainst the surface, placing battens at spaced intervals against theopposite face of the mat, advancing the battens toward said surface to`hold the mat and compress the portions under said battens against thesurface, inserting a blade into the mat while holding the blade flushwith the longitudinal edge of a batten, and drawing the blade along saidedge of the batteri to slit said mat partially therethrough to a depthwhich will allow decompression of the mat adjacent the batten edgesubstantially to its normal unrestrained thickness, the uncut section ofsaid mat serving to anchor the unconined area of the mat to the areaclamped between the fastening members- 6. In a method of applying aresilient, cornpressible thermal insulating mat to a supporting surfacewherein the mat is compressed beneath spaced battens which secure it tothe supporting surface, the step of drawing a sharpened blade along theedges of each batten to slit the compressed mat partially therethroughadjacent the battens to a depth allowing decompression of the mat to itsnormal thickness adjacent the batteri edges, the uncut section of saidmat serving to anchor the unconned area of the mat to the area clampedbetween the fastening members.

7. In a method of applying a resilient, cornpressible acousticalinsulating mat to a supporting surface wherein the mat is compressedbeneath spaced battens which secure it to the supporting surface, thestep of drawing a sharpened blade along the edges of each batten to slitthe compressed mat partially therethrough to a depth allowingdecompression of the mat to its normal thickness adjacent the batteriedges, the uncut section of said mat serving to anchor the unconiinedarea of the mat to the area clamped between t'ne fastening members.

8. A method of applying successive layers of resilient compressible matto a supporting surface, including the steps of positioning a firstlayer of mat against the surface, placing battens against the exposedface of the mat, advancing the battens toward said surface and securingthem to the surface to hold and compress the mat, slitting thecompressed mat partially therethrough adjacent the hatten edges andalong their length to a depth allowing decompression of the matsubstantially to its normal unrestrained thickness adjacent the battenedges, placing another layer of mat over the first mentioned layer,positioning additional battens against the exposed face of the secondmat layer and over said first battens, advancing said additional battenstoward said first battens and securing them thereto to hold and compresssaid second mat layer, and slitting the second mat layer partiallytherethrough adjacent the edges of said second battens along theirlength to a depth allowing decompression of the second mat substantiallyto its normal unrestrained thickness along the batten edges.

ALBERT L. GUSTIN, JR.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,137,883 Ross Nov. 22, 1938 2,239,109 Lundvall Apr. 22, 19412,245,611 Schultz June 17, 1941 2,326,717 Zeidler Aug. 10, 1943

